59. "Wow."

Pairing: Raven and Damian

Setting: DC animated movies

Timeline: Unknown

Age: 16-18

"Raven, are you ready yet?" The impatient boy kept knocking on her door. "We need to get going already or we'll be late."

"Define ready…" Raven muttered under her nose and sighed, looking at herself in the mirror. Her hair was pulled together in an elegant updo, a bit of makeup on her face to accent her eyes and lips, nice heel shoes, some jewelry… But the worst of all was the dress. A long sheath dress with, in her opinion, the biggest split on the right side. At least the top of it reached around her neck, leaving the shoulders bare, so she didn't have to worry about her boobs falling out like with the other dress Kori had picked out for her.

It was a nuisance, really. Mission or no mission, she just felt uncomfortable. It didn't even come close to anything she'd ever worn or would ever wear in her life. Which was why she was so against being Damian's escort for this whole thing. But the team all agreed that, since they had no known names and no faces, her empathetic abilities were perfect for pinpointing the people who'd have malevolent intents. Combine that with Damian's great observance skills and they might just get away with no casualties tonight. Though somehow, it didn't make things easier at all.

Another knock on the door made her jump. "Raven, come on!" They really did have to go… A deep sigh and one last look in the mirror.

"Okay. All good." She nodded and headed to the door, pressing the button to open it.

"Final-!" Damian was about to exclaim at the girl, but he choked on his own words when she stepped out into the light. At first he had wanted to scold her for taking forever to get ready, but then a million other thoughts started running through his mind and he wasn't sure how to express them out loud and if he even should do that. Her face, her dress, her overall look, how her eyes seemed bluer than usual and so much more. He was hit with so much at the same time that he was rendered speechless for the longest time and his mouth opened only to let out an involuntary:

"Wow…"

His initial silence made her even more nervous than she was already. The way he just stood there… and stared with his eyes opened wider than she had ever seen before. She couldn't quite place if his reaction was good or bad because his emotions were going all over the place.

"Wow good or wow bad?" Raven wasn't even sure why she'd think that it was a bad reaction, but she'd learned that one could expect absolutely anything from this guy. For all she knew, it might've been a 'Wow, I can't believe I'm gonna have to spend the entire evening with her'. Besides, she needed to break the awkward silence between them somehow, which thankfully worked seeing that Damian quickly composed himself again.

"Don't be ridiculous, of course it was a good wow." He replied nonchalantly and nodded towards the elevator. "Others are waiting downstairs already." With that, he walked over to the elevator and she followed him in silence. Though a small smile had sneaked onto her face.

Upon getting outside the tower, the rest of the team were already waiting for them, with Gar and Jaime messing around the limo and the girls just going through the details of the mission. Seeing the two come out, Kori gasped in amazement.

"My, don't you two look dashing!" She said with the brightest smile, earning a simple shrug from Damian. For him attending such events was no big deal. For Raven, however… "Alright, you have your comms?" They both nodded. "Good. Always be in touch. If anything happens, contact us immediately. We'll be close by at all times. Don't take unnecessary risks, remember, a lot of innocent people are going to be there. We don't want to put them in any danger. So don't do anything stupid." At the last words, her gaze turned to Damian, giving him a stern look.

"What? I got it."

"Don't worry, Kori, I'll keep an eye on him." Raven reassured the team leader, though the boy in question merely scoffed at that.

"Okay, you two," Kori sighed and beckoned for them to go to the limo, "be careful." They both nodded once again and headed to the limo where Jaime had already opened the door for them.

"Ladies first." He gave Raven a big smile and bowed in the most exaggerated manner.

"Quit the nonsense, Reyes." Damian frowned at the other, while Raven simply got inside the car. "Are you sure you can even drive a limousine?"

"Hey, I can drive anything!" He proclaimed proudly, but Damian was of course still skeptical. Either way, he didn't want to waste any more time with this, so he just got in the car next to Raven.

The door closed and they were off to the event. The ride there was mostly silent, with Raven trying to keep her calm. But all she could think about was how ill-suited she was for something like this. They should've let Donna go with Damian. She at least had the confidence for social events. Not to mention her looks and personality in general. The dress would've looked perfect on her. But instead it was pulled on this awkward hermit of a person.

Sigh.

"Nervous?" The silence was interrupted by Damian's observation. Did he really have to have this conversation.

"A little." She tried to be as evasive as possible.

"Why? This isn't your first undercover mission."

"First time going to such a fancy event with so many influential and important people though."

"Full of dangerous people, don't forget."

"Wow, you really know how to comfort a person and make them feel all better." She deadpanned.

"I'm merely stating a fact." He shrugged and looked out the window. "Besides, I don't see why you would be nervous."

"Well, first of all-" She sighed because she didn't think there was a whole lot of point explaining it all to him. It would only make her sound whiny and he wouldn't understand her anyway. "You know what, forget it. It's nothing."

Damian noticed the shift in her tone and glanced over at her with the corner of his eyes. It was obvious that she was tense. She didn't look like she was comfortable at all. At this rate, she would be no good for the mission. He understood that she needed her mind clear for her to be able to focus.

"Why? Is it because you're not used to this kind of attire?" At that, she shot her eyes at him as if caught red-handed. "It suits you." His eyes involuntarily slid down to her exposed leg, which she franticly tried to cover up to the best of her ability.

"No need for mockery, Damian." Somehow it only made her feel even more uncomfortable.

"I'm not mocking. I'm actually being quite sincere, Raven." He quickly declared, his features softening a little. "Just because you're not used to it, doesn't mean you look bad in it. In fact, I find it rather… attractive." Almost choking on the last word, he could feel his face burn up. And so did Raven's.

"Well- I suppose Damian Wayne the Great's escort should be nothing less than that."

"Now who's mocking?" They both let out a chuckle.

"Thank you."

"Hm?"

"For making me feel a bit better. Your first attempt at making a sincere compliment wasn't so bad." She smiled at him, but was met by his characteristic "Tt" and a red face that he hastily tried to hide by turning it towards the window once more.

Maybe this evening wasn't going to be so bad, after all.